My average size boys would starve on 225 calories a day. You cannot make such generalizations about Yorkies and their dietary needs and how quickly they clean a plate.

I agree. What you feed per day depends on their activity level, temperament, climate..etc. Some days Max hardly eats at all, and a few days later it seems like he is a bottomless pit. If its a day we go to the park or beach, they eat a tad more.

I also agree that they get bored with their food. I'm trying to find a rotation that works for both of mine. We are currently on Artemis. I've tried grain free like Acana, and while they love it, I don't think Max tolerates it after a while. Anyone know of anything comparable to Artemis?

I feel your pain..lol..:).. My dogs have been on so many different foods, that I think I made them picky by swtiching them so much. :(. But I had too with some foods, it either made them sick,itch or they just wouldnt eat it. My dogs cant eat high protien foods, they do very well on a food that is between 26 and 28 precent protien anything higher than that, Tucker starts having stomach issues. We are currently re-trying Life's Abundance. I ordered some samples and they loved (for now) the wet and dry so I went ahead and ordered some more. So far its agreeing with Tucker's senstive stomach and he hasnt had any issues. I also like that you can set it up for autoship and have it delievered when you need it.
Im keeping my fingers crossed that we have found the right food.. Wishing you the best of luck on your search!! :)

Sorry if I did not make it clear. I certainly was not saying that all Yorkies should get 225 calories a day. It is only an average. I intended to convey just the opposite, that there is a huge variance in the amount dogs need. I was emphasizing the lower end because that seemed to be the problem with the questioner. The reverse is also true. Many need more than the average. I suppose I bungled it very badly based on your inference from what I said. What I mean to say is that individual dogs have varying rates of metabolism and it has been my experience that most people overfeed their dogs.

I know Sydney's vet said she only needed a 1/2 a day. I had been feeding her a 1/2 cup in the morning and a 1/2 in the evening. I couldn't understand why she wouldn't eat it all on most days. I was overfeeding. If in doubt, ask your dog's vet.

Well I disagree. Call it boredom, picky or whatever, but ours will just stop eating it and that's it!
We don't overfeed. Our two little ones get 1/8 cup twice a day mixed with a few green beans and just enough wet food to moisten. They get a treat twice a day, but no other food and no people food!
I never feed the amount on a bag, it's always too much in my opinion.
I would understand if they are eating part and then leaving some, but we have had a problem with not eating at all!

Thank you for the offer on the samples. I think the place we are going to had samples for that one, but if not, I will let you know. That's very nice of you to offer, I greatly appreciate it!

I'm curious what type of issues you had with high protein? I'm also wondering about the activity level of your babies?
Appreciate the info!

I understand now. Thank you for the clarification.

I agree that a lot of people overfeed their dogs -- our vet said that 80% of her doggy patients are overweight. However, I don't think that is the case here on YT. I have found the majority here, especially the regulars, are pretty savvy about maintaining proper weight.

Jackson is about 16lbs and according to the bag... he could be eating 1 cup or even a bit more a day. He rarely eats 1 full cup a day though! If he does extra activities or longer walks or dog park days, he will typically eat more. I pour 1 cup a day of dry food into his bowl and usually half of it gets eaten. Honestly, I don't really know sometimes if he's UNDER eating but he always has food readily available so my feeling is: if he's hungry, he will eat. Usually around 5-6pm, I will take some kibble (I don't measure, I just take it out of bowl that I poured 1 cup into) and mix in some Before Grain canned food and that's his dinner. He usually munches on kibble alone around lunch-time.

Well, I avoid high protein since Maddy has a history of HGE. I know many people avoid high protein foods because they are not easy on the stomach. Also, I have heard that it could cause liver and kidney functions later on (not confirmed).

First, welcome to YT.

Secondly, allow me to expand on your kcalorie comment. Unfortunately, determination of kcalories is somewhat more technical than a standardized 225 calories across the board. The basic standard equation that nutritionists use to formulate appropriate kcalorie guidelines is based on a canines RER, or Resting Energy Requirements; where
RER(kcal/day)= 30 (body weight in kilograms) + 70. The RER is only valued for resting energy requirements, when other things such as activity, specific breed variants, coat requirements, environmental factors, muscle maintenance, and organ repair are entered into the equation, kcalorie requirements can vary radically. This RER is then multiplied by a specific numerical rate exemplifying the activity level to predict appropriate kcalorie intake that your pup will need for adequate nutrition.

So, say you have two five pound yorkies, one is extremely active and the other is very sedate. After deciphering their RER:
RER = 30 ( 2.27 kg) + 70 = 138.1, you find that their basic resting requirement is 138.1kcal.
For the sedate pup a multiplier of 1.6 is normal so basic kcalorie count would be 220.96 kcals, whereas the active pup would be using a multiplier between 4 and 8 which would put the kcal. count between 552.4 kcals and 1104.8 kcals. So as you can see, there is a drastic difference between these and the standard 250kcalories that you have quoted. My pups are extremely active, and their kcalorie range varies between 325-700 kcalories per day, depending on the exact type of exercises that we are doing.

So there it is, somewhat academic and boring, but useful perhaps to someone.:rolleyes::D

Well, I thought I clarified my thoughts in response to Maximo but I suppose I still didn't do too well. I don't know whether I said too little or too much. I am well aware of the formula, RER and multiples and that different activity levels require different caloric amounts (my dog eats half the suggested amount and I am sure that some need twice the suggested amount). I use the calculator at mycockerspaniel.com/mer.htm which gives all of the variables at once. I was merely offering the suggestion that the questioner might be feeding too much since I have seen so many people jump from one dog food to another to another and all along the problem was that they were giving the dog too much and he was eating enough, just not as much as the owner thought he should eat. I have even seen some people try several high quality foods and then switch to a low quality food, which the dog needs twice as much of, because of the lower caloric content and they decided that the higher quality food was "too rich" and settled on the lower quality food because the dog ate more of it. It seems that I failed miserably if two people misunderstood so badly. I think I will steer clear of this site henceforth.

Lordy! Now I need a Tylenol!:p Yes, useful though.:)

I followed what you were saying. Don't worry. :) You will find it is not uncommon for users to add as much information as we can so that others can also learn who may visit.

Certainly wouldn't let it keep me away.:)

Well we got samples of all the different Fromm formulas to try.
We did also buy the small trial bag of Orijen as well.
I gave Camden a few pieces to try of the surf & turf and I didn't mix anything in it. (we always mix green beans & wet food) and she ate it! So we will see.
Orijen is higher in protein, so I will see how they do, I think it sounds like excellent food!
Thanks!